Drunken man charged after trouble at convenience store, deputies say

Shortly before 4 a.m. Friday, the clerk at the Hess Express, 700 S. Nova Road, near Ormond Beach called Volusia County sheriff's communication center to report a man was accosting her and a coworker.

MARK I. JOHNSONSTAFF WRITER

A man described by a convenience store clerk as "drunk as a skunk" faces charges including carjacking, battery and resisting an officer with violence after he was involved in a early morning confrontation, a sheriff's spokesman said.

Shortly before 4 a.m. Friday, the clerk at the Hess Express, 700 S. Nova Road, near Ormond Beach called the Volusia County sheriff's communication center to report a man was accosting her and a co-worker.

The clerk told the dispatcher she confronted the man, identified as Shawn Kleotzer, 29, of Ormond Beach, and ordered him from her store after finding the suspect behind the counter, sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said in a news release. Instead, the clerk said Kleotzer grabbed her arm, shoved her and "jumped" at her and a co-worker. A moment later, Haught said the telecommunicator heard the clerk telling Kleotzer, "get your hands off me," before he fled the store.

Once outside, the clerk said Kleotzer tried to force his way into a 51-year-old woman's van, engaging in a tug of war with the owner over the vehicle door, when a deputy pulled up.

"She's got the car locked and he's telling her now that he's physically going to have to bring the world down and he's going to have to kill people," the clerk told the dispatcher, according to Haught's release.

The release said the deputy ordered Kleotzer to stop fighting with the woman, but he refused. When the deputy grabbed one of Kleotzer's arms, the suspect began struggling with the officer. Even after being handcuffed, Haught said Kleotzer continued to struggle and yell obscenities.

Kleotzer was eventually arrested and taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail where he was held on $6,500 bail.